Spinning spindle mechanism, including a worm and worm wheel drive



Filed Sept. 27, 1950 April 29, 1952 SPINNING SPINDILE: MECHAN A WORM AND WORM WHEEL DRIVE L BIRKIG T ISM, INCLUDING 2 SHEETSSHEET i 4 ATTORNEY April 29. 1952 L. BlRKlGT SPINNING SPINDLE MECHANISM, INCLUDING A WORM AND WORM WHEEL DRIVE Filed Spt. 27, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 29, 1952 UNITED STATES rATENT oF Ics SPINNING SPINDL E MECHANISM, INCLUD- I NG A WORM AND WHEEL DRIVE I Louis Birkigt,.Versoix, near Geneva,

. Switrerland Application September 27, 1950, Serial No. 187,024 1 J .In Luxemburg October 11 ,1949

'7 Claims. (Cl. 57-102) The present invention relates to Its chief object is to provide a mechanism of ..this kind which is better adapted to meet the requirements of practice than those existing at I this time, and in particular which are stronger portion of; the spindle, which rests through its bottom end, on a thrust bearing carried by said body, play being provided between said sleeve and the portion of the spindle locatedtherein, to:

make it possible for said spindle to have radial I displacements with respect to said sleeve against elastic return means urging said spindle toward I placements.

coaxial position in said sleeve, the drive between said two elements being achieved through means making allowance for these radialrelative dis- Preferred embodiments of my invention will be i hereinafter described with reference to .the accompanying drawings, given .merely by wayof.

example and in which:

. .Fig. 1 shows, in axial vertical section, a spindle I ys according toa first embodiment of myinvention; V,

Fig. 2 isv a similar view of asecond embodiment of my invention.

Insid'ea hollow, body or. casing [which can be fixed to a suitable support, I dispose horizontally a transverse shaft 2 carrying a wormjwheel} to drive the spindle.

' tending, through the upper wall thereof 'and which is made to support; through a lower ;ball

, bearing 5and an upper ball bearing 6, a sleeve I carrying the teeth la of the worm which meshes with worm wheel 3.

-. 7 Thus this. worm wheel and this worm are'both centered with respect to the same indeformable ,str'uctur e (constituted by the assembly. of body l liandtubular piece '4) whereby correct meshing is achieved.

At-thelipper part of tubular h fl "4, which tends above body I, there is provided a bearing 8, for instance of the roller type, the outer race of l which is-held in a bore of tubular piece 4, with the. interposition of an elastic, for.instance a rubber, ring .9. H

The lower' end of the spindle restsupon a thrust --bearing centeredwith respect to body .l, which -thrust bearingis advantageously rigid with said spinning spindle mechanisms driven by means of worms and worm wheels.

- tions 1 body and constituted, for instance, by a plug l lll fixed to the lower end of tubular piece 4, in which plug the thrust bearing II- is mounted.

The spindle is constituted bya metal rod including, from bottom to top, the following-por- First, a portion capable of resting and being centered in thrust bearing l'l;

- Second, a cylindrical portion 12 capable of passing with a suitable play in sleeve 1;

ThiroLat a level slightly abovesaid sleeve,means for rotatably coupling the sleeve and the'spindle together, but makingallowance for certain relap -ive radial movements between these elements,

which-means may for instance be constituted by projections l3 carried by the spindle andengaging recesses provided atth'e upper end'i'of J the sleeve;

portion may have any desired shape to support a Fourth, "a cylindrical portion' adapted to be housedinside bearing 8, either by direct contact between this" portion and suitable rollers," jor throughan inner roller race; and

Fifth, the upper portion of the spindle, which given type of bobbin.

l Of course, the mechanism just above described "further includes means for causing the bobbin tolbe frictionall-y driven by the spindle and, possibly, means for disconnecting thebobbinfrd'm the spindle, while braking thisf'bobbim In the embodiment of Fig 1, which shows a ,bobbin for big work, turning at 'relati velylow \speed, the lastmentioned means are made' as Lfollo'ws:

. .Ifhe spindle, above the upper; endofjtubular I fix vertically, to body I, a tubular pieced exconical element, whereby asuitable. drive of the bobbin is ensured, for instance under the. mere eifect of the weight of the bobbin. .On the. other hand, part 32 .includs an'annular' flange 16 adapted to cooperate with fric- Ition shoes l 9 carried by a lever 11 pivoted to piece 4 about a pin |8. Thus, when said lever I'l is pulledupw'ardly, said shoes both exert a braking eifect on flange l6, and lift the bobbin away from fru's'to-coni'cal, element l5, whereby the bobbin is no longer [driven by the spindle. j i

In order to keep the spindle in position axially when the bobbin is lifted up and to prevent an excessive lift of "said bobbinunder the thrust pf the shoes, I provide, on thegfillindle': on the one hand an annular abutment 20, located some millimeters under a partition 2| through which the spindle extends and which is located under bearing 8, and, on the other hand, an annular abutment 22, some millimeters above the upper edge 23 of the bottom of the bobbin.

Both .of'these abutm'ents may be constituted by split rings engaged in peripheral grooves formed around the spindle.

Such a spindle is supported at its bottom end by bearing H and, at an upper-leveL- by elastic bearing 8, preferably locatedat'such a level that the distance between thrust hearing I! and the coupling means interposed between sleeve land the spindle is about equal to the distance betw'een-* said coupling means and elastic bearing 8.

Thus the different sections of,.,the; spindle, except at the lower end thereof, will, be free to move out of center, during their rotationgas much as will be necessary to obtain a good balancing' of the revolving structure and, whatever be the" deformations of "the spindle, these deformations will in no way influence the center- "fl'ing of sleeve 1, which will be kept in correct meshing engagement with worm wheel 3.

v Fig. 2 shows another embodiment of the invention which differs in particular'by the following n points:

The lower end ofsleeve Tis guided by a smooth bearing acarried1by a shoulder integral with,

(the inner wall of body This-bearing has a "jconicalzbottom which acts "as a'thrust bearing "jlla forspindle' l2 andit is provided withan .fiaxialhole 30 so as to enable the lubricant present fin ibody l to pass I along the axislofthe spindle, into radial conduits 24 through which it is driven by the centrifugal .xforce into .the annular space existing between 1; spindle IZi'andth-einner 'wall' of sleeve 1. Other radial'lco'nduits 25". provided in the wall of said sleeve, make it possible for this lubricant to flow, irrthe form of av centrifugal jet, into the vicinity ,of the zoneof cooperation'of wormwheel '3 with its worm.

through a bore 3| provided ..The, elasticsystem interposed between the sbmmeiupper 1 smooth bearing 8a? and tubular lpiece 4, isbbnstituted; by a; toroidal'riibber ring; "s'pindlel2 is'd'rivenf by sleeve 1 :throu'gh aic'entrifug'al I clutch including centrifugal masses 2 B cooperatinglthrough their,semi+'-cylindrical outer .jside wens, witli'the inner -wfal loffa; sleeve 2'13 fixed [tdsleeve 1.1 Theselrna'sses are driven in rotation byp'rolections23 carried by a disc 29 coupledfwith spindle (Lthrough cooperating ribs andgro oves.

The operation Tof such a" clutch is' as follows,

the'spir'i'dle' being supposed to! be stopped:

' As soon as sleeve 1 is rotated, sleeve 21,".which turns together with said sleeve, drives disc 29 i'byjfriction with the lower face thereof and the I'proje'ctions 28 of this disccause masses 26 to rotateffiflhese masses are ..then applied'ag'ainst the innerwallpf sleeve 2T'andcouplethedriving member constituted by sleeve 2]"with disc 29 and thedriven'men'iber constitutedby spindle l2.

In ageneral manner, while I have,;in theabove description; disclpsedwhat. I deem to be practical and "efiicient embodiments. of my invention, it "should be well, understood that I' do not wish to, be "f l itedjthereto as there mightbe changes made in the arrangementdisposition' and form of the parts without'departin'g fromthe principle of the present invention as comprehended withinthe scope of the accompanyi ng claims. 1 WhltQI claim is;

a frame, a vertical sleeve directly journalled in said frame, worm teeth carried by said sleeve, a worm wheel in mesh with said worm teeth, a driving shaft for said worm wheel journalled in said frame, a thrust bearing carried by said frame under said sleeve in line therewith, a vertical spindle resting'on said thrust bearing and extending upwardly through said sleeve with a material play between the outer wall of said spindle and the inner wall of said sleeve, elastic means for gurging said-spindle toward coaxial relation with Isaid'sleeva'and cooperating means on said spindle and said sleeve, respectively, for rotatably coupling them-together, the last mentioned means being arranged with radial relative play so as not to. interferewith the radial displacements of said 5 spindle in said sleeve.

,2. In a spinning machine, the combination of a "frame, a vertical sleeve directly journalled in said frame, Worm teeth carried by said sleeve, a worm wheel; in mesh with said wormte'eth, adriving "shaft for said worm wheel journalled'in said frame, a thrust bearing carried bysaid frame under said sleeve and coaxially therewith, an

elastic bearing carried by said'frame above said sleevein line therewith, a spindle-journalled in both of" said bearings having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameterof saidsleeve whereby it can have limited radial displacements insaidsleeve against the guiding action'of said elastic bearing, and cooperating means on said spindle a'nd said sleeve, respectively, for rotatably said frame, worm teeth carried-by said sleeve, a

' driving shaft forsaid worm wheel journalled in wormiwheelmesh' with said worm teeth; a

said frame, a thrust bearing rigid with said frame located under said sleeve coaxially therewith, an elastic "bearing carried by said frame above said sleevein'line therewith, a spindle journalled in both of said bearings having an outer diameter smaller than the? inner diameter of said sleeve "whereby it can have limited" radialdisplacements in said sleeveagainst the guiding action-of said elastic bearing, and cooperating means n "said spindle andsaidsleeve, respectively, for rotatably r coup in themtog'ether; the last mentioned means being arranged-with radial relative play sofasnot placements of'sald spindle in saidsleeve. I

11.4. In a spinning machine, the combination of a frame, a vertical sleeve directly jjourn'alled in said frame, worm teeth ,carriedby said sleeve, a

worm wheel in mesh with said flworm't'eeth, a driving shaft for said wormjwheel journalled in said frame, a. thrust bearingearried by aid frame "under saidsleeve, a spindle resting on said thrust bearing having. an outeridiarneter smaller than f theiinner diameterjof said sleeve. whereby it can have limited radial "displacements with respect thereto, elastic, return means urging saidspindle toward coaxial "relation with said sleevegand' cooperating mean's'at the'top of ,saidsleeve on said spindle and said sleeve; respactively; for rotatably coupling them together, the last mentioned means being arrangedwith radial relativeplay so as 7 not to interfere with the radial displacements of said'spindle in saidsleeve. 4

5: A mechanism according' to claim *4 injwhich r: In asp-inning mach'inef the ctiiitiiition -or wthe' sieve is pr i t the top d h r of,

with radial recesses, including radial projections carried by said spindle and engaged in said recesses to form said coupling means.

6. A mechanism according to claim 2 in which the elastic bearing located above the sleeve is at a level such that the distance between the lower thrust bearing and the coupling means is of the same order of magnitude as the distance between said coupling means and said elastic bearing.

7. In a spinning machine, the combination of a frame, a vertical sleeve directly journalled in said frame, worm teeth carried by said sleeve, a worm wheel in mesh with said worm teeth, a driving shaft for said worm wheel journalled in said frame, a thrust bearing carried by said frame under said sleeve, a spindle resting on said thrust bearing and having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of said sleeve whereby it can have limited radial displacements in said sleeve, elastic return means urging said spindle toward coaxial relation with said sleeve, cooperating means on said spindle and said sleeve,

REFERENCES CKTED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,317,392 Lyth Sept. 30, 1919 1,395,529 Stott Nov. 1, 1921 1,772,315 Kanter et al. Aug. 5, 1930 1,774,666 Rabert Sept. 2, 1930 1,785,569 Rabert Dec. 16, 1930 1,924,176 Banfield, Jr., et al. Aug. 29, 1933 

